Whenever you run, even at a slow pace, you burn calories that help you burn fat to lose weight. The harder you run, the more calories you'll burn, and if you're able to run up an incline, either on a treadmill or outdoors, you'll increase the caloric burn of your workout even more. The number of calories you burn depends on your weight and the length and intensity of your workout.

Running

Running at a moderate to vigorous pace burns calories quicker than most other types of exercise, and given that you don't need expensive exercise equipment or a gym membership, it's an ideal way to lose weight. Someone who weighs 160 pounds and runs at 8 miles an hour for 60 minutes will burn 861 calories when running on level terrain.

Incline

When you increase your exertion during an exercise, you're burning a higher number of calories. Thus, if you weigh 160 pounds and burn 861 calories during an hourlong run, expect to burn more calories if you run up an incline for part or all of your run. ShapeSense.com reports that a 160-pound person running at a pace of 8 miles per hour will burn roughly 50 calories more per hour for every 1 degree of incline. Thus, if you run with your treadmill set to a 3-degree incline, you'll burn 150 calories on top of the 861, bringing your total to 1,011. An effective way to gauge the calories you burn is to use a treadmill and watch the "Calories/Hour" display, which you'll see increases as you increase the machine's incline.

Outdoors vs. Treadmill

Most treadmills have settings that allow you to increase the incline of the running surface for more of a calorie-burning workout. Although it's possible to find an incline outdoors, it's difficult to run steadily up an incline for more than a few minutes, given that you'll have to run back down the hill. Running downhill has benefits, such as working your core muscles more, but it doesn't provide the same calorie burn as running uphill.

Losing Fat

If you run to lose fat, it's important to understand how much you need to run to make a difference to the amount of fat you carry. To lose a pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories more than you consume. Given that a woman and man should consume approximately 1,940 and 2,550 calories, respectively, per day, it's unreasonable to expect that you'll burn enough calories to lose a pound per day. A goal of losing a couple pounds per week through exercises such as running is more realistic.

Resources

About the Author

Toronto-based journalist William McCoy has been writing since 1997, specializing in topics such as sports, nutrition and health. He serves as the Studio's sports and recreation section expert. McCoy is a journalism graduate of Ryerson University.